Soul Mate (The Mating Series) (6 page)

“So we’re like butterflies?” I asked.

“Sort of,” she replied. “Cassie, what’s your sudden interested with death and the green room?” I never asked questions about the afterlife. I inundated Jimmy with questions when we first met, but then decided I didn’t want to know about life after death.

“
One of the girls from work was killed.” A combination of Penny’s death and that stupid movie on Saturday piqued my interest. I worried about Penny roaming the earth with her head all bashed in like in the movie. Mom’s explanations helped ease my mind.

“The one Jimmy saw?”
Mom asked.

“No, it was another one, but in a similar way
.”

“Oh, how terrible!”

“It’s the same guy,” I said. “I just know it.”

“I hope they catch him.”

“Some police officers came to work,” I said. “They needed me to answer some questions.”

“Who was she?”

“Her name was Penny,” I said. “She had a little girl too.”

“What happened to the little girl?” Mom asked
, concerned.

“I don’t know. I had to identify her. They didn’t know about the baby. The
officers said they’d find the baby.”

“You’re not in danger are you?” Mom asked.

“Certainly not,” I replied. “This guy isn’t a random killer. He’s looking for prostitutes.”

“What if he gets you confused with the women you help?”
Mom is such a worrier
. Whenever I told her something, she pointed out the worst scenario and said, “What if...”  When I wanted to be a cheerleader, I told Mom. She immediately asked, “What if you get dropped and get a broken neck?” When I wanted to play softball, Mom asked, “What if you get hit in the head with a ball? People have died from playing softball.” When I told her that I had a job at Mary House, Mom asked, “What if you get a STD off the toilet seat?” I lied and promised that the staff had their own private bathroom.

The phone rang, which saved me from another of Mom’s worst case
scenarios. “Hello.” I answered.

“Hey Babe
,” Jimmy said.
He called me Babe again!
I got a broad smile. Mom gave me a quizzical look.

“Hi
,” I said. Jimmy’s soft voice gave me the feeling of free fall. I spoke to Jimmy maybe twice a week, but it was the second call in one day. When we hung out, Jimmy was always sweet and attentive, but now he seemed to be making an effort to talk to me. Jimmy’s attitude towards me had changed. He treated me like a girlfriend.

“Who is it?” Mom whispered, as if she would be heard by anyone else.

“Jimmy,” I whispered.

“Tell Carmen that I said ‘hi’
,” Jimmy said.

“Jimmy says ‘hi’.” I told Mom.

“Hi Jimmy.” Mom yelled and Jimmy laughed.

“You can hear her?” I asked.

“The same as you.”

“I’ve never talked to her over the phone
,” I said.

“Huh? You’re right. I’ve never heard her over the phone before, either.” I looked at mom again. She smiled and disappeared.

“She left.” I told Jimmy.

“We’ve learn something new about
your mom. We’ll have to test this discovery later.”

“How?”
I asked.

“I’ll have to think about it.”
Jimmy liked to test Mom’s abilities, but I didn’t. It encouraged her to stick around more.

             
Jimmy and I talked on the telephone until midnight. I told him about Penny Roil’s murder and about the two detectives. He was concerned about me. He thought I should take a few days off and rest. I told him that I couldn’t because Mary Lazarus was still out of town and wouldn’t be back until the end of the week. Finally, I couldn’t stay awake any longer. “Jimmy, I have to go to bed.”

             
“Wow, we’ve been talking for hours.”

             
“We have? No wonder, I’m so tired,” I said.

             
“You need to get some sleep,” Jimmy said. “You get up earlier than I do.” Jimmy didn’t have set hours, but he made sure his first client wasn’t scheduled before ten o’clock.

             
I yawned. “Yeah.”

             
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

             
“Are we still on for Wednesday?” I asked.

             
“Sure we are.”

             
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow and I’ll see you for sure on Wednesday.”

             
“Good night, Cassie.”

             
“Good night, Jimmy,” I said and then clicked off the phone. Stiff from lying in the same position for several hours, I stretched to loosen my limbs. Then I shuffled off to bed. It took about twenty minutes for me to go to sleep. Once unconscious, I slept restless. I tossed and turned. The day’s stress haunted me in my dreams. I woke up and dozed off, always going back to dreams of the two detectives and the picture of Penny. Each time I looked at the picture, I noticed a new atrocity. The dream turned into a nightmare.

             
I woke myself screaming. Drenched in sweat and breathing heavy, I attempted to shake the dream from my head. I glimpsed movement out of the corner of my eye. I shot up. My breath caught in my throat. I didn’t see anything in the dark room. “Shhh. It’s just me,” Mom said from a corner. “You had a nightmare. You were screaming.” I didn’t answer. I tried to catch my breath, but couldn’t.

             
I sat wordless for a long time. “Mom,” I breathed. “I’m scared. Stay until morning.”

             
“I will,” she said. Mom passed a cold breeze over me. It comforted me. I relaxed and fell asleep again.

CHAPTER 3

Tuesday
, I skated through the day on auto pilot, without any disturbances. Thankful since I didn’t sleep well the night before. Although, I maintained a pleasant demeanor, Penny’s death and the whereabouts of Skye persisted in the back of my mind. The negativity fluttered up every so often during my routine duties.

When I got home
, I ate dinner and watched television. Mom popped in for only a few minutes to check on me. After she verified that I wasn’t in hysterics, she popped out again. Mom’s bedside vigil drained her energy. She seemed tired, if ghosts get tired. Jimmy called and made arrangements for our date. We planned meet at Mary House after work and to Blaine’s for dinner and drinks. It was a work night so I couldn’t be out late. I wished I could take Thursday off to spend more time on our date.

I anticipated the date with excitement, but
women were being abducted and killed. I felt a mixture of excitement and guilt. I forced myself to focus on Jimmy instead of Penny or Skye. I didn’t have control over the women at Mary House or the choices they made. I couldn’t become so focused on them that I gave up my own life. Mom agreed. She lectured about being too absorbed in work. She worried that I would end up an old maid because I never created time for myself.

E
xhausted from lack of sleep, I went to bed shortly after nine o’clock. I woke up with renewed excitement on Wednesday morning. Five o’clock couldn’t come fast enough. I drug myself out of bed early to spend more time on my appearance. Instead of my usual work ponytail, I straightened my curly hair and added hair serum to give it a smooth silky sheen. I put on eye shadow, eye liner, and mascara. I tinted my lips a sultry wine color. Since I took after the Sicilian side of my heritage, I didn’t need any blushes, foundation, or bronzers on my face.

I picked through my pathetic assortment of clothes
in the closet. I spent twenty minutes trying on clothes. Nothing looked right. I finally settled on an out of style hunter green dress with black lace trim. I threw on a black cardigan and accented it with my favorite black pumps. I topped off the ensemble with a pair of gold hoop earrings.

I decided to ride the bus to work. Riding the bus saved me from leaving my car at work. I rode the bus regularly to save on gas and wear and tear on my old Toyota Camry. The bus arrived at my stop on time. The moment I climbed the steps, I realized I made a
n error in judgment. Male passengers packed the seats. Only one other woman rode the bus. I tried to sit as close to her as possible. Luckily, I got a seat by myself. I kept my eyes focused on the back of the driver’s head. I didn’t want to make eye contact with anyone for fear of conversation. Several hungry eyes watched me.

Half-way through
the route, my neck started to ache from sitting so straight. I turned my head to the left and saw the beautiful fall foliage of Garfield Park. I turned my head to the right, and face to face with a filthy hobo. His grey beard stained yellow, presumably from years of tobacco use.

“Howdy.” He said
, smiling to reveal nothing, but pink gums. I nodded and quickly faced forward again. “You sure look perdy.” I didn’t answer. “How’s come a perdy girl like you hasta ride the bus?” I still faced forward. “Come on,” he said, “you can talk to me. I ain’t gonna bite you. I ain’t got no teeth.” His comment made me laugh. “There’s a smile.” He said.

“I’m riding the bus to save gas.” I said
, turning slightly.

“Me too.” He stuck out a grimy hand. “I’m Norm.” he said.

“Cassie.” I said, and shook his hand making as little skin contact as possible.

Some younger guys in the back started making c
at calls and kiss noises at me. “Them boys have no manners.” Norm said, shaking his head. “Hey, you boys. This is a lady show some respect.” This brought howls of laughter and jeers at the old man.

A skinny
, pale, and pimple faced boy with greasy blonde hair plopped in the seat in front to me. “Hey,” he said. He turned in the seat facing me with his arms draped across the seats. He wore a grimy tank top. The smell of body odor emitted from under his arms. “How ‘bout we get off at my stop.” I inched closer to the bus window. “Are you afraid?” he asked.

“No.” I replied.

“Then why are you scooting away?”

“Because you stink!” Norm
said, from behind.

“Shut up old man!” He put his hand on my leg. “I like this material it’s smooth.” I jerked my leg, but his hand tightened. “Don’t be like that.”

The bus lurched to a stop in front of Mary House. The boy flipped backwards. The hobo, Norm, kicked the boy. A scuffle ensued between the boy and hobo. The bus driver put the vehicle in park and headed to the altercation. As the driver approached, I jumped out of my seat to an adjacent seat. As the driver passed, I slipped off the bus unnoticed. As I descended the steps, I heard the driver say, “Ima gonna bust some heads if you don’t break it up.” The bus rocked as I hopped onto the curb. I darted to the front doors.

Glad to be at work in one piece,
I mentally noted not to wear a dress on a city bus. I walked through the glass entrance and ran straight into Walter, the janitor. My feet tangled in the cord of the floor buffer. I flipped over and landed flat on my butt. Nessie bounded out from behind the reception desk. “Miss Cassie. Are you alright?”

I only wounded my pride
. “I’m fine,” I said.

“Why don’t you look where you’re going?” Walter said. Walter was the only man at Mary House.
Mary House didn’t hire men, for obvious reasons. Mary hired Walter as the handyman/janitor because the women at Mary House couldn’t perform some maintenance tasks. We could change a light bulb, but none of us knew how to change the heating element in the stove. Walter worked three days a week doing odd jobs around the facility. Walter and I didn’t get along. When I ask him to do a task, he always made some surly remark, and refused until Mary Lazarus confirmed its necessity.

“Di
d you hear me?” Walter snapped. He sported a mustache and sideburns, with huge blue-green anchor tattoo on his forearm. Walter reminded of a cross between Captain Quint, from the movie
Jaws
, and a retired porn star.

“You get on out of here Walter!” Nessie interjected. “You can’t talk to Miss Cassie like that.” Nessie took my hand and yanked me to my feet in one movement. “She’s your boss when Miss Mary’s away.”

“Humf.” Walter grumbled. I ignored Walter. He always gave me an uneasy feeling.